About 54K Ohioans enroll in expanded Medicaid

COLUMBUS (AP) — More than 54,000 Ohioans have enrolled in Medicaid under an expansion of the taxpayer-funded program.

Gov. John Kasich’s administration moved forward last fall with extending Medicaid eligibility to cover thousands more people under the federal health care law. Coverage took effect Jan. 1.

The state’s monthly report on Medicaid caseloads shows that 54,031 residents have gained coverage under its extension as of February. That’s about 15 percent of the roughly 366,000 people who the state projected would be newly eligible by the end of June 2015.

The expansion allowed those earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level to gain coverage. For a single adult, that’s about $16,000 a year.

The report doesn’t include those who have applied to the health program for the poor and disabled.